


Stumped

by Rumaan



Series: Test Match Special [2]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sports, Christmas Fluff, Cricket, Cricket AU, Cricketer!Robb, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 02:25:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17153546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rumaan/pseuds/Rumaan
Summary: Robb was ready to make Jon Snow regret daring to come to house for Christmas but he wasn't prepared for Rhaenys





	Stumped

**Author's Note:**

> I promised Robb and Rhaenys story was coming up! 
> 
> You can read Jon and Sansa's story in part 1 of this series (Sticky Wicket)

Robb didn’t notice her at first. He was too busy glaring at the sight of Jon Snow darkening his doorstep. How his family could do this to him and on _Christmas_ of all days was beyond him. You can’t just invite the man he’d been fighting tooth and nail almost all of his cricketing career to a family occasion and act like it was a good thing. Now he’d have to put up with Snow trying to one-up him for the whole day when all he wanted to do was relax.

His scowl got fiercer as his mum warmly invited Jon Snow into the house and gushed over the bags of presents he was holding and saying how unnecessary it was for him to bring gifts for them all. Robb bet there was some shoddy joke gift for him that tried to mess with him psychologically. The Australians prided themselves on just how well they could get inside opponents heads.

As Snow stepped further into the house, Robb wanted nothing more than to square up to him, but the innate good manners his parents had installed stopped him from going that far. However, he did stand there with his arms folded and ignored Sansa as she muttered that he was being churlish. Then before he could offer Snow his hand so he could grip it tightly and show him just whose house this was, a petite figure stepped towards him, a friendly smile on her face with her hand stretched out in greeting, and he was gone. His mind shorted out and he could think of nothing but how beautiful this woman was. Life had just bowled him one peach of a ball.

Of course, he knew vaguely about Snow’s family life. When you play against someone for pretty much your whole career, you get to know things about them. He knew that Snow was illegitimate and that it had been a big drama when his father ran off with a teenager and got her pregnant. The Targaryens were part of Australia’s rich elite and Rhaegar had been tipped to take over the family business when he’d eloped with Lyanna Snow. Then he’d died in a car crash nine months later and his wife, Elia Martell, had taken over the reigns of the business in the name of her children and instead of shunning Lyanna Snow and her child, had set up a trust fund for Snow and allowed him to bond with his half siblings. The sins of the father had never been put on Snow and he enjoyed a good relationship with his siblings.

However, despite knowing this, Robb had never met Snow’s sister or even seen a picture of her. He couldn’t say that players’ families ever really impinged on him but now he wished he had taken more of an interest. Then he would have been prepared for how stunning Rhaenys Targaryen was instead of standing and staring at her like a moron.

She was darker than her brother, clearly taking after her mother as much as Snow took after his. Her hair was a cloud of black that framed her face perfectly and her eyes were a warm chocolate that he could drown in. And was that a hint of dimples he could see in her cheeks? He didn’t think he could survive dimples. When his hand touched hers, his breathing hitched at how soft and perfect it fitted into his. He just about let her hand go.

“Robb, thank you so much for inviting us. It’s very kind of you to have us over.”

There was a snort from behind him - probably Arya - but he ignored it as he grinned down at Rhaenys and said something about how welcome she was. He wasn’t sure if it was a coherent sentence and the way his mum was eyeing him in amusement, he was sure it wasn’t.

“Mrs Stark,” Rhaenys said, moving over to his mum and brandishing a bag. “I hope you don’t mind, but I brought part of my Christmas here with us. It’s a dessert my grandmother would always make and we’d eat it for breakfast Christmas morning. However, it can be eaten at any time.”

“Please call me Catelyn and that sounds delightful. Come and bring it into the kitchen.”

Robb started to follow after them when Rickon caught his arm and said, “Where are you going, weirdo? Don’t think you’re getting out of the Street Fighter tournament just because I kicked your arse last year.”

“I think someone has made a good first impression on Robb,” Arya interjected in a sing-song voice.

“What?” Rickon asked, confused.

“He has heart-eyes for Rhaenys.”

“I don’t,” Robb said quickly.

“Yeah, okay,” Arya scoffed. “That’s why you gave her a garbled half sentence about how welcome she was.”

He could feel the heat in his face at his youngest sister’s words.

“Are we going to stand here talking about boring things or are we going to play?” Rickon asked, impatience clear in his tone.

“Play!” Arya said, pumping her fist into the air. “Yo, Jon, you going to join our Street Fighter tournament and defend Aussie pride? It’s a Stark Christmas tradition.”

Snow looked up from where he was chatting with Sansa - probably about his shoulder injury as Sansa was his physiotherapist. “Yeah, sure, sounds fun.”

“Great,” Robb muttered.

Arya rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you go and see if Rhaenys wants in on the action? Try and hide what a dick you are especially towards Jon or she’ll never give you the time of day.”

He opened his mouth to refute Arya’s accusation, however she shoved his arm and said, “Go!”

Rhaenys was laughing at something his mum said as he entered the room and he was struck once more by how beautiful she was. It wasn’t just her physical looks either - she radiated a warmth and he wanted to bask in her heat. He hadn’t gotten nervous around women for years, but he could feel how his stomach twisted up anxiously as he walked towards her.

“Hey honey, everything okay?” Catelyn asked.

“Yeah, we’re starting the Street Fighter tournament and I was wondering if Rhaenys wanted to join in.”

“Oh, that sounds fun. But only if you don’t need any help here, Catelyn.”

“No, everything is under control here. Go and have fun with Robb.”

Rhaenys turned her eyes on him and the ability for normal conversation leaked out of his brain and all he could think was how he wanted to gaze into her eyes forever.

“So this Street Fighter tournament - how competitive does it get?”

“Arya and I both captain the England cricket teams.”

She grinned at that and gave him another glimpse of her amazing dimples. “That bad, huh?”

“Oh yeah. Then there’s Rickon who is like some kind of YouTube gaming star and Bran who does the cricket stats for the Test Match Special team. It’s only Sansa who doesn’t get competitive. She’s usually the first one out.”

“Jon and I will fit right in then.”

“I know all about how competitive your brother is, but you, too?”

“Oh yeah! You better have game, Stark, or Chun-Li and I will crush you.”

He choked over the visual her words gave him and swallowed down his instinctive reply that he’d happily die between her thighs.

 

\------------

 

“Do you need help with the dessert, Rhaenys?” Catelyn asked, once they returned from their post lunch walk.

“Probably a bit with finding things in the kitchen. I need to heat it up.”

“I can do that,” Robb got in quickly before his mum could offer.

Arya and Rickon cracked up and his cheeks grew hot as his mum raised her eyebrows. So he usually avoided giving any help in the kitchen, but he could be polite to a guest.

“That’ll be great. Thanks, Robb,” Rhaenys said.

He was grateful she ignored his sniggering siblings and he led her into the kitchen and watched as she got her dessert out of the fridge.

“What is it?”

“Knafeh. It’s a famous Palestinian dessert with sweet cheese, kataifi pastry and semolina flour that we use any excuse to make because it’s so good.”

“It looks amazing.”

She smiled. “Wait until you taste it.”

“So you like to cook then?” he asked as he turned the oven on. He was grateful that Catelyn made sure all her kids knew the basics when it came to looking after themselves so he wasn’t fumbling around the kitchen appliances.

“Yeah. All my maternal family love to cook. It’s in our blood. We all get together and cook big feasts back in Melbourne.”

“Melbourne? I thought you were from Sydney?”

“Yeah, my dad’s family are. The Martells are all in Melbourne though and mum always took us back regularly to see them. My grandma would take us into the kitchen and teach us all the family recipes.”

“And this is one of them?”

“Yep, it’s an iconic Palestinian dessert from Nablus where my family originates.”

“I can’t wait to try it.”

“Jon loves it so I hope you do, too.”

That morning he would have wrinkled his nose up at liking anything Snow did, but it had been surprisingly easy to get on with him over Christmas lunch. Also it helped that Robb wasn’t focused on him. How could Snow gain his attention when Rhaenys was in the same room?

By the time they made it into the living room, it was time to decide on which Christmas film they’d all be watching and Robb couldn’t help but smirk when Rhaenys agreed with him (and Arya and Snow) that they should watch Die Hard. He also managed to manoeuvre his way into sitting next to Rhaenys on the sofa. Okay, so Rickon was on her other side, but it’s not like his youngest brother was going to try and chat to her so that was all good.

Then he caught Snow snuggling into Sansa and the reason that both Snow and Rhaenys had been invited hit him. Sansa was dating his big cricket rival. Somehow his craftiest sister had managed to engineer the whole day so she could see her secret boyfriend at Christmas. He should be mad - a lot angrier than just narrowing his eyes at Sansa, but, as had happened since she’d arrived, Rhaenys tapped him on his arm and got his attention. He couldn’t even begin to care about Sansa dating Snow when he looked over at Rhaenys.

“Aren’t you going to try the knafeh?” she asked, biting her lip as if she was nervous about what he thought.

“Sure,” he said, digging his spoon in and bringing it up to his mouth. The taste of sugary syrup with mild melted cheese and the firm topping burst across his tongue and he couldn’t help but moan at the taste. “That is so good.”

A radiant smile blossomed on Rhaenys face and he grinned back at her, happy that he brought out her dimples in full glory.

“Now I need to taste more of your cooking.”

It wasn’t the smoothest line ever but it had her looking up at him through her lashes and replying in a slightly shy voice that it could be arranged before she turned her attention to the film that was beginning. Robb usually loved watching Die Hard, but right now he was slightly jealous that it was taking her attention away from him.

Once everyone had eaten, Rhaenys started to clean up the plates and put them back on the trays. Robb got up and began to help her, waving his parents’ offers to help away. He was more than happy to get Rhaenys to himself once more. He lightly flirted with her as they cleaned the dishes away, happy that she reciprocated, before steering her over to the stairs where he knew Sansa had hung some mistletoe.

He paused and she turned back to see why he’d stopped.

“Look,” Robb said, waggling his eyebrows jokingly. “Mistletoe.”

“Hmmm...so it is,” she said, not moving any closer.

“Tradition states you have to kiss me now.”

“Oh it does, does it?”

“Yep! Sorry, those are the rules.”

“And you didn’t at all meander your way in this direction for that purpose?”

He clutched dramatically at his chest. “Why, I’m hurt you could even suggest I had such nefarious ideas.”

“I know all about you and your strategies, Robb Stark. My brother routinely complains about your tactical abilities.”

“What is it that they say? That all’s fair in love and war.”

“Now the Ashes definitely is war - but what’s the love?”

“Come over here and find out.”

She laughed before shooting him a mischievous look and slowly strolling her way over towards him, teasing him with every nonchalant step before she finally came to rest in front of him. Walking her fingers lightly up his chest, she slid her hands across his shoulders before wrapping them around his neck. “This better be worth the effort, Stark.”

He bent his head and softly brushed his lips once and then twice across hers. “I promise you it will be.”

Moulding his mouth to hers, he teased and caressed her lips until she opened up allowing his tongue to dip into her mouth where she tasted tantalizing of sugar and heat. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer into him, angling his head to take the kiss deeper and losing himself in her warmth.

He had no idea how long they remained there kissing but the sound of a throat clearing had him raising his head and blinking his eyes dazedly at the interruption.

“Wondered where you’d got to, Stark,” Snow said with an amused smile playing on his lips.

Sansa stood next him, her armed wrapped around his waist and a shit eating grin on her face.  “You’re missing the film that you claim is a Christmas classic.”

Robb cleared his throat, embarrassed that he’d been caught making out like a teenager. “Coming back in now.”

For a moment, the two couples hovered on the threshold of the living room. Arya looked over and groaned, “Falling for your enemy’s sister is such a cliche, guys. Can’t you be more original?”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [tumblr](http://rumaan.tumblr.com/) should you wish


End file.
